Trapped
by Liadan
Summary: After being kidnapped, Usagi is rescued by a stranger claiming to be her husband.
1. Default Chapter

Liadan  
CA2285@hotmail.com  
Rated: PG-13/R   
  
This is the result of extreme boredom and an entire week off school due to snow. Just to  
clarify, in this story there is no Sailor Moon and Usagi and Mamoru have never met.  
  
Chapter 1- An Unlikely Escape  
  
He came to her in dreams. An unseen wind plastered her white dress against her body. Usagi   
called his name. It echoed brokenly, lost in the tiding currents of the breeze. Almost before  
the sound had started it stopped. Usagi choked, sinking to the black ground. Then, as if he   
had appeared from thin air he was there.   
  
He bent down his arms going around her. They stood together, holding one another. Usagi   
buried her head against his broad chest. She could almost hear his heartbeat. She felt his   
hand gently tilt her chin upwards. Their eyes met. She wanted to tell him something,   
something very important, but she couldn't seem to remember what it was. The urgency   
faded and Usagi concentrated only on his presence. His head lowered and she felt the brush of   
his lips against her own. She ran her hand against the stubble of his chin, loving the feel of   
him. The kiss deepened, his hand against the small of her back pulled her even closer. They   
were so tightly bound together that her breasts were plastered against his chest.   
  
She thought that maybe for that instant they were not two distinct individuals, but one whole   
being. They were two pieces fitting together, belonging. She put her hand on his chest,   
pushing him back so she could look into his eyes. He was mouthing something to her, but she   
couldn't make out the words. She tried to tell him that she couldn't understand him but a loud   
noise ripped through the dream.   
  
*****  
  
Usagi jerked awake to the sound of a scream tearing through the white room. She put her   
hands over her ears, but it didn't block the terrible noise. Still groggy from sleep, she sat up   
the sheet falling from her body revealing the hideously tacky dress that was her only clothing   
option. The scream stopped abruptly and Usagi felt her stomach wrench with concern for the   
unseen victim. Guilt pressed down on her chest, constricting her breathing. Usagi forced her   
thoughts to the task of her own survival. Quickly she searched for the small knife she had   
managed to conceal. She had fished it out from inside her stocking and placed it in the sleeve   
of her dress. She felt the fabric rip and tested it by moving her arm. The knife stayed. She   
thought she could reach it more easily from there. With that immediate need settled Usagi   
waited.   
  
The dream was becoming increasingly vivid. It had been only one day since her capture, and   
in the brief snatches of sleep she caught, she had dreamed of him, a mysterious dark-haired   
stranger. She was at a loss to understand the meaning behind the strange dreams. She had   
wondered if perhaps the man was coming to save her, but those thoughts were tempered by   
doubts. In her more skeptical moments she wondered if he was the fragment of her own,   
overly optimistic mind. The cold truth was that she was trapped here. She was trapped in a   
colorless room with no windows, dependent on the will of a madman. Well, there were some   
things that no madman could ever force her to do. She would slit her own throat first. She   
fingered the hidden knife.  
  
Catching a faint sound, Usagi tilted her head, listening. She heard footsteps. Startled, she   
jerked her hand away from the knife and tried to compose herself. The door opened. Her   
initial instinct was to turn her face away in revulsion and fear. But she forced herself to face   
him. Cowering would not accomplish anything. He was dressed in a white cape and pants.   
Perhaps if she closed her eyes he would disappear, blend into to the eternal white surrounding   
her. She knew she couldn't give into these instincts. He stood confidently in the room,   
assessing her. Usagi could almost feel his gaze on her body. She grabbed the low cut bodice   
of her dress, in an effort to cover herself more.   
  
"Serenity, how lovely to see you awake." Diamond's eely voice slid up her spine, making her   
visibly shiver. He appeared pleased. If possible, Usagi became even more suspicious.  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you? My name is Usagi not Serenity. I have no idea who   
you are referring to." She set her jaw and looked squarely into his dark eyes.   
  
"Serenity, I think you know. You know all to well who I am referring to." He let out a chuckle.   
Strands of ash white hair, static with energy were sticking out around his head in a wild halo.   
He started to cross the room, approaching Usagi. She couldn't help herself. She shrank   
away, hoping with her entire soul that he wouldn't touch her.   
  
Diamond noticed the motion and his face twisted in anger. He halted, glaring at her.   
"Don't play that game with me, Serenity. You're in my realm. You belong to me now. I will   
never let you go. Ever." He swept through the remainder of the space, grabbing her in a   
sudden embrace. "He can't reach you here. He can't corrupt your mind against me." Diamond   
muttered thickly against her hair.   
  
Eyes wide, Usagi attempted to free herself, but the steel bands of his arms only tightened,   
suffocating her. He continued to hold her for a moment, than finally released her.   
  
"You don't understand what it's like, seeing you with him every day. He'll never love you, the   
way I do." Diamond touched the side of her face gently, peering into her eyes as if he could   
see into her very depths. Usagi's hand flickered to the hidden knife, but she stopped herself.   
Now was not the time. The knife was her last resort.   
  
"You're crazy. I'm not Serenity and I have no idea what other man you are talking about."   
Usagi jerked back from his touch, but she was cornered against the foot of the bed.   
Something flared in Diamond's eyes. Was it satisfaction she saw there? He stepped back.   
  
"You're not ready yet. I see. Don't worry I am a patient man. I will wait." Diamond headed   
for the door, giving her one last cryptic smile before he shut the door shut and she heard the   
lock click in place.   
  
She sighed in relief, sinking down to a sitting position in front of the bed. She had survived   
another episode. He was insane. What man was he talking about? The one she kept   
dreaming about? Usagi had a very limited experience with men and had never had a   
particularly intimate relationship with one. She couldn't understand why this insane fool would   
want to kidnap her off the street and demand she stay away from some man she had never   
met. It didn't make any sense. But then nothing about Diamond seemed to make any sense.   
  
She wasn't sure how much time she had left before Diamond did something drastic. He had   
said he would wait, but for how long? What did he want from her? Usagi was pretty sure that   
she didn't want to wait around and find out.   
  
Resolve hardening, Usagi stood up shakily, to further assess her surroundings. The room was   
large, adorned only in white. It had painted white walls, a white tiled floor, and white   
bedding. The bed was the single piece of furniture in the room. The ceiling was high, a   
considerable distance away from Usagi's rather short form. There was one large window, high  
above on the ceiling, but it was covered with large iron bars. She vaulted on the bed   
stretching her arms out, in a futile effort to reach the window. Even with her added height,   
the window loomed at an impossible distance.   
  
Next on her agenda, Usagi went to check the solidity of every wall. She realized that it was   
probably also a fruitless gesture, but she had to try. When she had felt all the walls, she   
pulled out her hidden knife and looked at the locked door.  
  
The only lock Usagi had successfully picked before was her own bedroom door during a   
scrabble with her brother. That lock hadn't been nearly as complicated as the one she was   
facing now. All it had taken was a bendable coat hanger inserted into the lock. She wasn't   
sure she even knew the exact mechanics for picking a lock this complex. She slid the tip of   
the knife into the lock and began to work.   
  
Three hours and one cut finger later, Usagi gave up. She slid her bleeding finger into her   
mouth as her gaze went around the room. It was impenetrable. There was nothing in this   
room that could facilitate her escape. She was simply trapped. 


	2. Chapter 2

I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed my writing. So far it's all been positive and   
that's been very gratifying for me. It is certainly more motivating to write for an audience.   
It's been a while since I updated, and I don't have an excuse except that I have a tendency   
not be satisfied with my own writing and I always read and rewrite everything I have written   
over and over again. I'll stop babbling on here and just let you read it.   
  
Chapter 2 - Flight  
  
In her dream, Usagi was home again, standing in her own bedroom. She could hear the clang   
of pots, as her mother cooked and the low tone of her father's voice. She heard her brother's   
footsteps as he scurried down the stairs then his own soprano voice blend into the familiar   
sounds.   
  
She was safe. Surely danger could never reach her here. The yellow curtains fluttered   
slightly and she could practically smell the beautiful spring day outside. She walked to her   
door to open it and join her family but the door was sealed fast. Panicked, she tried the   
doorknob again. When that failed she beat her fists against the hard, unyielding wood, crying   
out.   
  
She turned around, but the scene had shifted to that horrible white room she could never   
escape. The walls were shrinking, coming together to crush her. Frozen in horror, Usagi   
watched the walls move relentless towards her. It was then that he decided to make his   
appearance.   
  
Casually, he put his hands against one of the walls stopping the motion. Everything in the   
room seemed to shift, and when she blinked the walls were back in place. Usagi wanted to   
hurl herself at him, in an effort to seek security, but another emotion began to rage within   
her, anger.   
  
She was angry with him for not saving her, for leaving her in this room. She was angry   
because he seemed so nonchalant and unruffled. And most of all, she was angry because she   
should have been able to save herself.   
  
Usagi was practically quaking with rage, as he approached. He tried to embrace her, but she   
shoved him away, hard. He reached for her again, and Usagi prepared smack him on the side   
of his cocky head. Instead of hugging her though, his hand went into her sleeve, pulling out   
the hidden knife. He placed it in her hand, closing her fingers around it. Then he grabbed her   
hand, leading her towards the door.  
  
He guided her hand, holding the knife into the lock. She bit her lip in frustration. She'd   
already tried this method and it hadn't worked. This wasn't going to help. She realized he   
was trying to tell her something, but the dead silence of the dream seemed to stop him. She   
watched his lips move soundlessly.  
  
Giving up on speech, he instead guided her through the process of picking the lock. She   
heard it click, satisfactorily and the door swung open. She was filled with jubilation, and she   
swung her arms around him. He hugged her back, but now he was looking concerned. She   
wondered why, but she didn't have enough to time to contemplate it. His form blurred before   
her eyes.   
  
*****  
  
Usagi woke with that feeling of joy still pounding through her. Energetically, she bounded up   
from her sleeping position at the foot of the bed. She knew how she was going to escape   
now. All she had to do was remember exactly how.   
  
When she got to the door she was immersed with an overwhelming sense of deja vu. She   
placed her ear against the door, listening. Everything was silent.   
  
She didn't give it a second thought. As if in a trance, Usagi slid the knife into the lock.   
Several minutes later her work was rewarded as she felt the lock release. Cracking the door   
open, Usagi stuck her head into the hallway peering into the darkness.   
  
It was a long, dark hallway dotted with doors. These were doors that could open at any   
moment. She felt fear twist her stomach in a knot. She hesitated. What other dark secrets   
did Diamond hide behind these doors?  
  
She wanted to creep along the wall, melding against as she'd seen in spy movies, but she   
doubted the action would make her any less visible to a passerby. She was after all, dressed   
in white. It probably made her stand out like a beacon in the dark hallway.   
  
Instead she sucked in her breath and shut the door as quietly as possible. Her own light   
footsteps fell softly on the tiled floor. Her feet moved at an increasing rate as she accelerated   
down the hall, until she finally broke out into a run. Reaching the end she abruptly realized  
that no emergency exit sign graced the end of the hallway. She was being foolish. Of course  
Diamond wouldn't visibly mark his exits. She was in the evil lair of a madman, she told   
herself.   
  
That left her with the option of choosing a door, and hoping there wasn't something or   
someone she didn't want to meet on the other side. She didn't want to think to hard about it.  
She randomly decided on a door directly in front of her and swung it open recklessly. The   
room revealed was empty, but it did contain one thing of interest, a balcony.  
  
Usagi opened the door to the balcony, walked up to the edge and peered over. The ground   
was far away, but not that far away. She estimated that she could probably jump down with   
relatively no injuries.   
  
She was anticipating the plunge when she felt strong arms wrap around her. She started to   
struggle but a hand clamped over her mouth. She made a muffled sound as she was   
unceremoniously tossed over a hard shoulder.  
  
Her legs kicked and she beat her hands against a muscular back. She was jolted as he   
jumped off the balcony landing hard on the ground. She grimaced in pain as her jaw hit the   
solid muscles of his back.   
  
"Sweetheart, don't struggle."   
  
"Huh?" Usagi was frightened, until she received her first good look at her attacker as he   
swung her off his shoulder. When she saw him she felt like fainting in shock. As it was, she   
gaped at him and was struck speechless.  
  
The stormy blues eyes that met her own were familiar because she had looked in them before,   
in her vivid dreams. He was her dangerous apparition, come to life.   
  
His dark hair fell slightly into slightly into his eyes. He was tall, so tall that Usagi's head barely   
reached his shoulder. She had to bend her head backwards at an uncomfortable angle to   
meet his gaze.   
  
"You... are the one in my dreams." She stuttered, confused at the strange turn of events.  
  
He shrugged brushing the black hair away from his eyes. "I've always been." He seemed to   
take that part for granted, but his face expressed concern that she'd asked such an obvious   
question.  
  
"You know you're acting really weird, Serenity. Don't you recognize me?" He looked puzzled   
and a little hurt. He wrapped his arms around her possessively.  
  
"Should I recognize you?" Usagi cocked her head slightly, her puzzlement apparent.  
  
"I should hope so." He touched her face, starting into her eyes in a questioning manner.   
"What has Diamond done to you? Damn, I knew I should have gotten here sooner." His jaw   
clenched and she felt his muscles tighten.  
  
"I'm not Serenity." Usagi blurted out. "My name is Usagi and I'm from Tokyo, Japan." She   
was almost afraid to say it, but he had to know the truth.   
  
He shook his head. "No you are Serenity," he said stubbornly.   
  
"I'm not!" Usagi exclaimed. "I think I know who I am!" She stomped her foot down in a flash   
of anger.   
  
"No you have to be Serenity. No one else could ever duplicate that same shade of blond hair,   
or the crystalline blue eye color ..." He trailed off, shaking his head in denial. In that instant   
Usagi decided that he too, like Diamond was in need of some serious psychological help.   
  
"Leave me alone! I need to get home and away from here." She tried to pull away, but his grip   
on her arms tightened.  
  
"Home?" He frowned. "Your home is with me." Usagi managed to break away from his grasp   
and she took several steps back.   
  
"What are you talking about? Who is Serenity to you anyway?" Usagi's confused anger made   
her careless and she almost tripped as she stepped backwards. He stalked towards her   
retreating figure and hauled her towards him. His next words were clipped in frustration.  
  
"Serenity is my wife."   
  
*** 


	3. Chapter 3

I've must be way too involved in my psychology class, because I have this urge to   
psychoanalyze all the characters I've been writing about, especially Diamond who   
probably does have a personality disorder. The end of the semester has been very busy   
for me, but it's now over and spring break is coming up. Sorry for the pathetic shortness   
of my chapters, but it's all I can handle to write this much at a time.   
  
***  
  
Chapter 3- Unleashed Emotions  
  
Finally breaking away, she ran. Her feet hit the soft forest earth in a rhythmic pattern;   
her breath came in harsh spurts. Branches were hitting her body, tearing the already   
tattered white dress and leaving traces of their ambush in the form of welts and scratches.  
  
Usagi heard a crashing noise behind her and she knew he had followed. Like a   
frightened doe stalked by a dangerous predator, she darted ahead. She wasn't fast enough   
though, she could hear him coming closer. He was closing in for the kill. She tried to   
find a hidden spurt of energy that could carry her legs faster, but failed.  
  
She was struck by something large and solid that knocked her to the ground. The impact   
knocked the breath out of her. When she opened her eyes she was lying under him. His   
face was set in a grim, determined line. Usagi managed to force air into her starving   
lungs despite his heavy weight on top of her.   
  
"Who are you?" She finally gasped out.  
  
"I'm Endymion. Your husband, remember?"   
  
Usagi was stunned. She didn't believe a word coming out of his well-formed lips. Her   
husband? She wanted to be back home, curled up in her nice warm bed, away from the   
emotional havoc this shockingly handsome man was bent on giving her. She struggled   
only to find her face mashed into his dark coat. She was pinned under him. His heavy   
weight made it impossible to move.   
  
"Get off me you oaf!" Usagi exclaimed, pushing against his shoulders, in a futile effort to   
budge him. It was hard to breathe with his weight mashing her into the soft, forest floor.   
There was a tree root digging into her shoulder too.   
  
Endymion let out a sigh, shifting just a bit as to take a quantity of weight directly off her.  
  
"Maybe this will refresh your memory."  
  
Endymion's crushed his mouth to hers. At first the kiss was angry, a brutal claim of   
possession. He almost savagely forced her mouth open sweeping his tongue inside.   
Stunned into submissiveness, Usagi didn't respond, but she didn't exactly protest either.  
It wasn't an altogether unpleasant sensation. Suddenly, Endymion shifted the angle of   
the kiss, relaxing the pressure and making it less brutal as he tried to coax a response   
back from her. Usagi tentatively, responded. Somewhere in the back of his throat, he   
groaned. As if a floodgate opened, Usagi passionately kissed him back, sliding her arms   
around his giant frame. They were so consumed that when they broke apart they were   
both breathless.  
  
"Do you remember now?" Endymion sounded smug. He propped himself up on his   
elbows, taking most of his weight off her now but still covering her.  
  
Usagi just felt more confused. "I don't know you. I mean I know you, but I've never   
met you. Does that make any sense?" She was getting shaky now and ready to cry. She   
was tired, sapped of energy.   
  
"You really don't know who am I?" Endymion cupped her face with his hands, tenderly.   
  
"Yes, I've been trying to tell you that all along. You've just ignored everything I've   
said." Relief started to relax the tightness of her body.   
  
"What did he do to your mind? You obviously believe what you're saying." Endymion   
assessed her, as if he could make her remember him simply through his gaze.  
  
"I don't know, I think my mind's fine. I think it's yours that is impaired." Underneath   
him, Usagi glared.   
  
"Well, I guess we're just going to have to travel and see the Keeper then. She'll   
understand the situation." Endymion levered himself upwards and then taking her arms,   
he pulled her to a standing position.   
  
"The Keeper?" Usagi swayed slightly on her legs. Endymion grabbed her by the waist to   
steady her.   
  
"Yes, the Keeper. She is the wisest women I know and she will know how to heal you."   
  
Usagi let the healing part go. "Why is she called the Keeper?" Usagi asked.   
  
"Because she is the Keeper of Time." Endymion said sincerely.   
  
***  
  
In his glass palace Diamond brooded. The empty hall echoed with silence. Diamond,   
perched on his throne was ultimately dissatisfied. His thoughts went to Serenity as they   
inevitable did. She haunted him as no other woman had. It wasn't just her startling   
physical perfection but an innate quality he couldn't quite name. She was a beacon,   
shining brightly just beyond his reach, unattainable in her glory. At times he felt his   
plight was that of a moth drawn to flame, beating agitated wings until being finally   
enveloped in a warm, death.   
  
Serenity would not be his death though. She was here, safe with the confines of his   
palace. He would break down the walls of her resistance, slowly, while tearing away her   
misguided love towards that other man. She didn't, couldn't know the truth of real,   
consuming, love. Love was possession and obsession, emotions of which Serenity   
seemed oblivious. Diamond would teach her. He would love her as no other ever would.  
  
It was time to visit her again. He imagined her kneeling, with that white dress pooling all   
around her, looking at him with beseeching, crystalline blue eyes. It wouldn't take long,   
before she discovered that she loved him. He knew she did. Why did she keep denying   
it? She lied as all women did. He shook that thought away. Serenity wasn't just any   
woman. She was different. She was above such petty things.  
  
He strode purposely down the hallway, anticipating his next meeting with her. He   
planned how he would break her, until her only thoughts were of him. He could almost   
feel her sweet lips on his own. Diamond swept through the hall, until he reached her   
door, where with a brief discharge of dark power from within he released the lock and   
shoved the door open.   
  
Hitting the wall, the door made a hollow sound, echoing in an empty room. Diamond's   
eyes searched around the room, for a huddled form somewhere among the whiteness.  
Enraged at finding nothing he stalked inside the room, whisking away the sheets on the   
bed.   
  
It was empty. Furious now Diamond unleashed his inner darkness, and sent it searching   
for one specific soul. If she was on the premises he would find her. The power stretched,   
searching as he sent it away from himself. It searched, whispering through the building,   
but it found nothing. It came back to him like a boomerang, slamming back into his   
body. He staggered from the impact, his fury mounting. She was not here. Serenity had   
escaped.   
  
His howl of rage filled the palace, echoing through the empty hall.   
  
*** 


	4. Chapter 4

If any of you readers noticed I did just recently change the description of this story, in an   
effort to make the story sound more interesting. I also had a sneaking suspicion that   
sentence was grammatically incorrect, which really bothered me.   
  
I realize that the last couple of chapters were incredible short, so this chapter is longer   
this time. In fact it's several pages longer. That's for all you awesome people who keep   
give me feedback on my writing!   
  
  
Chapter 4- Promises  
  
***   
  
Usagi snorted at the absurd statement. He couldn't be serious, the Keeper of Time?  
  
"You know you really had me going there." She gave a forced laugh. "You almost had   
me convinced, but this is way too far-fetched. I may be gullible, but I'm not that  
gullible." Crossing her arms protectively, Usagi eyed him critically.   
  
Endymion grimaced in frustration. "You don't believe me?"  
  
"Of course not. First of all, no one can 'keep the time,' and second I'm not the one with   
an impaired memory. Mine's just fine, thank you. I remember my past clearly, which by   
the way, did not include being married to you!" Once again Usagi found herself   
retreating, this time due to the look in his eyes. He looked dangerous, like a man being   
driven over the edge.  
  
"It doesn't matter, you're coming with me anyway." Agitated, he ran a hand through his  
dark hair, brushing it away from piercing blue eyes.   
  
Usagi wasn't in the mood for another scuffle that she was sure would ensue if she tried   
running away once more. Physically, Endymion could easily overcome her resistance.   
His muscles fairly rippled with health, and he towered over her. Really, she told herself,   
she had no choice but to comply.  
  
"Fine," She said breathing outward heavily, in a way that sounded suspiciously like a   
sigh.   
  
Skepticism flickered across Endymion's face. Trapping her hands in his, he reeled her   
closer. "Promise me that you'll stay with me." Deadly serious now, he unconsciously  
caressed her the inside of her sensitive wrist with his thumb.  
  
Usagi shivered. She tried to think of a way of hedging the promise he was trying to   
extract from her. "You mean until we reach this 'Keeper.' Right?"   
  
He looked startled for a moment, as if he hadn't ever considered the possibility that  
eventually they might part. "Yes," he ground out between clenched teeth.   
  
She thought about it for a minute, cocking her head slightly. "All right." She said.  
  
His hands tightened on her wrists. "All right, what?"  
  
"All right, I'll come with you to see the 'Keeper.' But that's as far as I'll go, after that I   
can't promise you anything." She nervously twisted her arms in an effort to loosen his   
grip.   
  
Satisfied, Endymion dropped one arm. The other arm he kept, using it to lead her back   
over the territory she had just sprinted. Usagi was practically dragged along, as he   
briskly covered the distance.  
  
"Sheez, I said I'd come with you. You don't need to haul me around. I'm perfectly   
capable of walking without your help," Usagi said with some annoyance leaking into her   
tone.   
  
Endymion abruptly dropped her arm and walked away. She saw him occasionally,   
risking backwards glances in her direction, as though to make sure she was still following   
him. Was he afraid something would happen to her or did he just generally not trust her?   
Usagi felt hurt with the last thought. He should trust her, especially if he believed he was   
married to her.   
  
Endymion halted in front of her, and Usagi, with her mind absorbed elsewhere failed to   
notice. She didn't stop and subsequently ran straight into his broad back. Quickly she   
took a step back, rubbing her nose. Embarrassed, Usagi tried to act nonchalant, as if   
nothing had happened. Maybe he hadn't noticed her slip. She had no such luck though.   
Endymion gave her an amused grin before he returned his attention to what had made   
him stop in the first place.   
  
It was a horse. It was an intimidating, gigantic, black, animal. It snorted, twitching silky   
ears as Endymion reached for the bridle. Usagi had never been particularly fond of   
horses. Endymion swung himself onto its back, in a swift motion. He offered a hand   
down to the gaping Usagi.   
  
Usagi shook her head. "We're traveling on that thing?"   
  
Impatience filled Enymion's tone. "Yes, how did you think we'd be getting there?   
Walking would take us far too long."   
  
"I don't know, maybe a car." Usagi was starting to regret her impulsive promise. Why   
did she keep convincing herself he was sane?  
  
"A car? What are you talking about?" Obviously baffled, Endymion's look was filled   
with confusion.  
  
"I mean a car. C-A-R. It has four wheels, a steering wheel, and you get in it and drive   
places. You know..." Usagi trailed off, glancing back up at him to read his expression.   
  
His face held no recognition of the word or her description. He seemed to let this pass   
though, as another symptom of her illness. His eyes narrowed. "Get on the horse,   
Serenity," he commanded.  
  
"I don't want to." Usagi crossed her arms in defiance, and glared up at him. No one   
ordered her around like that. Who did he think he was?   
  
Endymion leaned down from the horse, and snatched her up by the back of her dress.   
She heard a ripping noise as the material gave. Shrieking, Usagi scrambled to rearrange   
her legs in a comfortable position as he plopped her down on the horse. Angrily, she   
turned around and hit him in the shoulder. The man must have been made of stone   
though, because he barely flinched. Usagi was forced to give up her assault. She rubbed   
her sore hand and decided to glare at him, instead.   
  
Endymion's eyes darkened, but it wasn't in anger. Usagi followed his glance to her   
overexposed bosom. The white dress, which hadn't been the best quality to begin with,   
had finally torn beyond repair. A great expanse of cleavage was now visible to the eye.   
In fact her dress was barely covering her top half, only offering the most minimum of   
protection, as it clung to her upper curves. Heat rushed to her face. She muttered   
something incomprehensible, and gathered the fabric about her. Clutching the remains of   
it to her, she turned her head away from his, in an effort to gather herself together. She   
wasn't sure she could recover from this mishap.   
  
A hand reached out, gently turning her face. Positive she was now beet red, Usagi tried   
not to meet his eyes. The hand didn't let go, and Usagi eventually forced her eyes to   
meet his. He was staring at her so intently that Usagi shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"You don't have to hide yourself from me." He seemed to convey tender, understanding.   
"You're beautiful."   
  
The statement touched Usagi. In her entire, existence she didn't recall anyone every   
calling her beautiful before. She didn't know how to respond, so she simply said nothing.   
She stared back at him, with wide eyes, fascinated by his reaction.  
  
When she didn't pull away he lowered his head to her neck. His large hands spanned her   
body, caressing her ribcage. He traced her collarbone with his mouth, as he kissed her.   
Heat pooled within the depths of Usagi's stomach. She turned her head and caught his   
mouth with her own. It was warm and receptive. She instinctively opened her mouth, as   
he had taught her. They melded together, Usagi's anger forgotten.  
  
Endymion pulled his mouth away from hers, his body tensing.  
  
"We need to get going." He said harshly. He unfastened the black cloak he was wearing   
and wrapped it about her shoulders. His hands were brisk and efficient, in direct contrast   
to his previous, loving caresses. He had an angry expression on his face, and his jaw was   
set.   
  
Usagi was suddenly hurt and embarrassed. She barely knew him. Of course she had   
dreamed of kissing him before, but that wasn't the same thing as actually kissing him in   
real life. He must think she was a loose woman. No, that wasn't right, if he truly   
believed they were married. Didn't married people share such intimacies? Why was he   
angry with her then? He was a confounding man. Usagi snuck a glance at him, but he   
ignored her. He had kicked the horse into motion, and was guiding it along.   
  
Well if he was going to be like that, it wasn't going to bother her. Two could play that   
game. In the saddle, Usagi scooted as far away as possible, trying not to lean into him   
with her body. The motion of the horse kept moving her back into contact with him   
though. Annoyed, Usagi would move away again, only ending up exactly where she had  
started. Finally his arm came around her forcing her to lean back into his hard chest.   
Tired, Usagi didn't resist. Her eyelids were heavy, and the emotionally draining day was   
finally taking its toll. The steady, rocking motion of the horse lulled her into sleep.  
***  
  
The room smelled of death. Even Diamond who was somewhat used to the smell had   
trouble not gagging at the stench. The area was dimly lit; shadows fell in errie bands   
across gray flooring. In the center of the room, a dark crystal hovered above a stand,   
pulsing as it fed off malignant energy discarded carelessly in the room.   
  
Evil lived here. It was an ancient, pure, unadulterated evil. It manifested itself in the   
cloaked figure hunched by the throbbing crystal.  
  
"Wiseman," Diamond addressed it. It had never told him its true name, which was lost,  
in centuries of time and forgotten. Death had surely come to those that had ever known  
it.   
  
It turned what should have been its head in Diamond's direction. Two ruby-red eyes,   
burned into his soul.   
  
"I need your help." Diamond said as moved towards the hunched figure.  
  
"Sssso...you come to me." Its voice was a raspy, growling sound.   
  
"Yes." Diamond ducked his head in acknowledgement. "Serenity has escaped,"   
Diamond told it.  
  
"Your obsession with that girl exceeds my understanding," Wiseman answered.  
  
"She'd be a powerful alley, if she were under our control." Diamond said defensively.   
  
"I know. That's why I have not rejected your request. She may hold the key to our   
enemy's destruction." Wiseman's cloaked figure no longer touching the ground, instead   
it hovered several feet above it.  
  
"You will help me find her then?" Diamond feared that his hold on Serenity had   
diminished with her escape. He wondered if she was with Endymion. Silently, his hand   
curled into a fist, turning white as he squeezed it.  
  
"I will do more than that." If Diamond had been able to distinguish Wiseman's face he   
would have said that the lips were twisted into a smile. "I will make her come to us."   
Wiseman's dark figure glowed unnaturally, in the dim light.  
  
Reassured, Diamond's hand slowly unclenched. No one had ever escaped Wiseman.   
Unchallenged in power, Wiseman had extended his reach far beyond that of any mortal.   
Serenity would not be able to escape him this time. Diamond's mouth twitched.   
  
With Wiseman's help, Serenity would walk willingly into his arms.   
  
*** 


	5. Chapter 5

Whew! It been a while since I've updated this hasn't it? I had some serious writer's   
block and my life in general has just been one crazy mess. But I'm making up for the   
delay by the length of this chapter. So don't give me none of that! (Just kidding, you   
know that you're all awesome)  
  
Since several people asked me questions about the setting, I'd thought I'd address it. The   
immediate setting, is Crystal Tokyo (or a form of Crystal Tokyo.) Yes I know, Crystal   
Tokyo is suppose to be a futuristic city, but I've tailored it to my own needs. I've made it   
sort of a backwards, medieval place; because I liked it better that way. So I guess really   
you could called it an alternative universe. And yes Usagi is not from Crystal Tokyo. So   
what's a modern day Japanese girl doing in the future? I guess you'll just have to read   
and find out.   
  
I literally sit by my computer chewing my fingernails anxiously waiting for your reviews.   
I live for them so... Review! Review! Review! After all a happy writer is a productive   
writer. :)  
  
Chapter 5  
  
She dreamed she running, away from something. In the slow, hazy quality of the dream,   
she was unaware of what exactly she was running from, only that it was something evil, a   
thing born of darkness that wished her harm.   
  
She wasn't running fast enough though, her limbs were awkwardly weighed down, and   
refused to obey her. She struggled to make them move, straining forward, with as much   
effort as she could give but she still managed to move painstakingly, slow.   
  
She knew than in one horrifying moment that it was going to catch her. She felt it with   
the tiny hairs on the back of her neck as it crept towards her. It was going to envelop her,   
suffocate the living breath out of her. Just as it was about to overcome her, there was an   
earthquake.   
  
She awoke to a familiar pair of blue eyes and became aware that he was shaking her   
awake. Endymion was staring down at her with concern, a frown touching his hard   
mouth. She wondered if the man ever smiled, he always seemed to be in a foul temper   
lately. Although, slightly disturbed by the remnants of her dream, she gave him a   
tentative smile, in an effort to brighten, his seemingly dismal mood.   
  
"You were having a nightmare." He said. Was that concern she heard leaking into his   
voice?   
  
She shrugged, "Thanks for waking me." She didn't volunteer any more information and   
he didn't ask. They lapsed into silence.  
  
A little disoriented, Usagi forced her unfocused eyes to survey her surroundings.   
Yawning, she stretched bumping Endymion in the face with her arm. She uttered an   
apology to the man who only grunted in return. He seemed to be consumed with   
scanning the trees, as if he expected an attack at any moment.   
  
She wondered how long she'd been asleep. Time had slipped away from her during her   
sleep and she wondered exactly how much of it had gone by. The sun had shifted   
downwards, and it looked soon as if it would begin to set. They were still in the woods;   
the trees around them lifted heavenward branches to a darkening sky.   
  
Usagi shifted uncomfortably in the saddle. She wasn't used to riding for such long   
periods of time. Well, really she'd never ridden much at all. She could feel the dull   
throbbing of her legs, protesting at the sudden abuse.   
  
Her mind wandered. She had been gone for a while now. How were her parents reacting   
to her prolonged absence? She could imagine them contacting the police, sitting with the   
investigator discussing their only daughter's disappearance, her mother's tears and her   
father's stoic silence. The first thing she would do, Usagi thought, was hug them all even   
her annoying brother, Sammy who was at stage where he refused to bathe regularly.  
  
Had it only been several days since the kidnapping? Somehow it felt like longer, months   
perhaps, as if she been away for ages from familiarity. This new place she was in, it   
didn't seem like Tokyo or even Japan. Since she had been kidnapped, Usagi had not seen   
a single, normal person, or residential area. Instead she had seen a gigantic palace made   
of no material she recognized, and a seemingly never-ending forest. What was this place   
she had been brought to?  
  
Not being one to stifle her curiosity, Usagi plunged ahead fearlessly with her question.   
  
"Endymion, where are we?"   
  
"The woods." His answer was abruptly, to the point.  
  
"No, I mean the general area. What's the name of this city?"  
  
"Crystal Tokyo."   
  
"Crystal Tokyo? I've never heard of that before." Usagi scratched her head, as she   
attempted to make some sense of his unexpected answer.  
  
"I've never heard of Japan," he retaliated.   
  
"What is wrong with you? You must have lived a very sheltered life," Usagi replied,   
exasperated. Everyone knew where Japan was, unless they lived under a rock. Usagi   
was beginning to think that Endymion had been raised under one.  
  
"I answered your question didn't I?" Endymion was looking beyond her his eyes still   
fixed on tree line.  
  
"You know it's rude, not to look at the person you're talking to." Usagi decided to lecture  
him on the finer points of etiquette. His eyes seemed to be looking everywhere except   
at her. It was quite annoying.   
  
He didn't answer her. Instead he quickly halted the horse, and practically leaped off it as   
he dismounted. Before Usagi had even blinked, he had drawn his sword. Balancing the   
sword in one hand, he used the other to drag Usagi off the horse. Shoving her behind him   
he glowered, positioned in a fighting stance.  
  
"What is it?" Usagi hissed. She glanced around, fearfully but saw nothing that would   
raise his immediate alarm.   
  
"Be quiet." Endymion continued to clutch the sword.  
  
Peering around his solid body, Usagi thought she saw a glint of an eye in the dark   
shadows cast by the heavy trees. Then she heard as slight rustle of leaves as an unseen   
creature dashed off in a different direction.  
  
Endymion lowered the sword, looking grim.   
  
"It was following us wasn't it?" Usagi asked.   
  
Endymion nodded, sliding the sword back into the sheath at his waist.   
  
"Well, at least it's gone." Usagi said a little too cheerily.   
  
Endymion was still frowning. "That's not the problem, that youma is just a scout."   
  
Reality dawned on Usagi. She gave an involuntary shudder. "Oh no." She murmured.  
  
"We've got to make even better time than we're making now." Endymion was already   
hoisting her back up the horse. Shaken, Usagi didn't resist as her already sore body was   
placed back on, the source of her discomfort.   
  
***  
  
Usagi had gotten to the point where her entire lower body felt numb. She cursed her own   
trusting nature. Endymion and the "Keeper" could both kiss her sorry, aching, behind.   
It wasn't going to be too long before she disgraced herself entirely and fell off the horse.   
Her stubborn legs seemed to be refusing to obey her commands to grip the flanks of the   
darn animal.  
  
She glanced up at Endymion, who except for some dark circles under his eyes seemed to   
be just fine. She couldn't detect any traces of pain from his expression or his body   
posture. He wasn't leaning as she was, to the side in an attempt to shift weight onto other   
less used muscles. In fact he seemed almost content. She wanted to fly at him in a rage.   
It just wasn't fair.   
  
"Do you think we could stop now?" she asked, teeth gritted in pain. If he said no, she   
was going to hurl herself off the horse whether they were moving or not. She might   
manage to survive the fall if she tucked and rolled.   
  
Perhaps noticing her discomfort, Endymion agreed. She could have kissed him, but she   
refrained, unsure of the tentative territory between them. She thought it best to be   
conservative, after all he did have a wife out there, who she had come to the conclusion,   
was not herself. Abruptly she felt a stab of jealousy and quelled the feeling. She didn't   
really know him she repeated to herself for the millionth time.   
  
"Serenity." She whispered to herself, rolling the name around on her tongue, searching   
for familiarity. There was nothing though. The syllables were foreign, unknown, and her   
mouth was unused to shaping the word. No there wasn't any way that she could have   
ever been called this name and forgotten.   
  
He stopped the horse, climbing down. Gently, he helped Usagi down. In his arms, Usagi   
was struck again at how incredibly tiny she felt in his grasp. A slight tightening of those   
heavily muscled arms and he could crush her easily.   
  
He hadn't let go of her. He smelled of horse, leather, and sweat. She knew she should   
have found it repulsive, but she didn't. The smell was masculine, a unique combination   
that could only be his own.   
  
She was doing it again, being attracted to him. She reminded herself that it was not   
wise. As he lowered her to the ground, she slid slowly over the hard planes of his body.   
She wanted to glare at him; sure that he was torturing her on purpose. As soon as her feet   
touch the ground she pulled out of his arms, but was unable to walk. The stubborn   
cramped muscles of her thighs and legs refused to move after all the abuse she had   
subjected them to. Endymion was there again, steadying her.   
  
"I can't walk," she admitted, regretfully.   
  
"Then I'll just have to carry you." He said, not in the least perturbed. She let out a little   
gasp as he swung her up into his arms. The man treated her like a sack of potatoes he   
was trying to transport, continuously hauling her around. She was too tired to muster up   
any anger though. Instead she relaxed, cradling within the broad expanse of his arms.  
  
"Aren't you tired?" She muttered against his chest.   
  
"I think you've been sleeping enough for the both of us," he said somewhat sarcastically.   
  
Usagi let out an outraged gasp that turned into a giggle. "I haven't been sleeping that   
much! You're just not normal." She attempted to jab him in the shoulder with her   
finger, but exhaustion made her want to move as little as possible. She soon gave up the   
effort.   
  
He reached whatever spot he had wanted abruptly stopped and set Usagi down.   
  
"Wait here." He said, and turned around disappearing into the woods. Suddenly alone   
Usagi gazed around in apprehension. The youma was still fresh in her mind. She peered   
into the darkness in an attempt to distinguish the shadowy shapes. A rustling of leaves   
had her jumping in alarm, tensed to fight, but it was only a squirrel or some other forest   
animal settling in for the night.   
  
Everything was so quiet that her own breathing sounded harsh and overly loud. She   
listened to it, hoping that it wouldn't attract anything she had no wish to meet in the dark   
woods. The sound of Endymion's confident footsteps had her jumping in surprise. She   
automatically tried to mask her expression from him, but realized that he couldn't see it   
in the darkness anyway.   
  
He strode over to her, laying a pallet on the ground next to her. He dropped onto it,   
snaking an arm around Usagi's waist and pulled her to his side. Usagi found herself,   
lying down plastered against the side of him, with his heavy arms constricting her   
movement. Apparently he was expecting them to sleep like this.  
  
"Uh...Endymion?" She chocked out a little shocked.   
  
"What?" he asked impatiently.   
  
Agitated, she blurted it out. "I can't sleep like this."  
  
"Yes, you can." He had buried his face in the crook of her neck. She could feel his lips   
against her collarbone.   
  
"You'll roll on me." It was a rather lame excuse, but Usagi wasn't feeling all that   
brilliant in the present moment.   
  
He smirked, or at least Usagi thought it was a smirk. In the darkness she couldn't really   
tell. Suddenly he moved, taking Usagi with him. She found herself flat on her back   
staring into the dark recesses of his midnight colored blue eyes.   
  
"Do I make you uncomfortable?" His tone was light, flippant.   
  
Startled, in reaction to his sudden lightness, Usagi was silent, unwilling to admit the truth.   
  
He seemed amused by her silence as if it confirmed his beliefs. His ego was already   
inflated beyond control; he didn't need any comments of hers to add any air to it. She   
managed to stammer out something unintelligible.   
  
Out of her own violation, her arms crept up and slid around him unconsciously stroking   
the small of his back. She watched his expression shift, from playful to a more primitive   
emotion.  
  
He braced himself slightly on his elbows in order to keep the full crushing, strength of his   
weight off her, and caught her mouth in a kiss. At first it was only a chaste, brushing of   
the lips but soon it became more. His tongue plundered into her mouth and Usagi   
responded in kind. Caught in the onslaught of the whirlwind, Usagi fisted her hands in   
his hair. His wedged a heavy knee between her legs. A calloused hand cupped a breast   
through the thin material of her dress. He pulled his mouth away from hers for an instant   
saying softly, "Serenity."   
  
It was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her head. She stiffened, pulled   
away her desire doused. Endymion looked at her with darkened eyes. She traced her   
swollen lips with one hand as she gathered her thoughts.   
  
"I'm sorry." She bit out. "I'm not her." She knew now that with Endymion she would   
never escape Serenity's shadow. He was never going to see her, as her own separate   
entity, as simply Usagi, the young woman from Japan. The cold truth was, that his   
attraction to her had happened only because she reminded him of another person. This   
woman, Serenity had been his wife, had joined herself to him in the holy sacrament of   
marriage. They had made pledges to each other that he was going to break if they   
continued on this reckless route.   
  
If he didn't have enough sense to stop this behavior, she was. She was going to stop   
everything before anyone got hurt. Before she got hurt. She wasn't going to fool herself.   
She wasn't stopping it purely out of the goodness of her heart. She was she admitted   
doing it for herself.   
  
She had to stop it because if she didn't her own heart would break.  
  
***  
  
At Diamond's feet the unnatural, speckled body of the youma trembled. Wrapping   
strands of dark, misted power around the monster he lifted it in the air. Increasingly   
agitated at his master's display of power the creature submissively lowered its head,   
shrieking for forgiveness.   
  
"I told you not to been seen." Diamond spit out, angrily. With a jerk of his hand, the   
creature was slammed against a wall. It let out a shriek of pain, mumbling more   
apologies. Abruptly Diamond released it, and it hit the flooring with a thump.   
  
"I guess it can't be helped now." Diamond said, disgusted with the thing. It regarded him   
with hooded eyes, cowering in the position it had landed. "So, once again Endymion has   
stolen her from me." His frustration was palpable. He wanted her now, in his control at   
that very instant, away from that man that kept taking her from him.  
  
He tried to calm himself with the thought that at the very instant, Wiseman was going to   
working his subtle magic. Magic, that would confuse and distort her perspective. When   
Wiseman was through with her, she wouldn't know right from left and would be   
completely open to his persuasions.   
  
Yes, he could see her now, enthroned in darkness, sitting next to him on his crystal   
throne. She would be magnificent, her golden hair flowing about her, with her sky blue   
eyes filled with a cold purpose. She would be his match in everything. Power and   
control would flow effortlessly in her and she would strike fear in the strongest of men.  
All of them would cower away from her, except him. For him she would reserve her   
smiles, her softness, and her affection.  
  
Soon very soon she would be all his. It was in Wiseman's hands now. The plan would   
be placed into action shortly.   
  
*** 


	6. Chapter 6

All right, I admit I'm the slowest writer in the universe. I'll have to admit I've been   
pleased with the responses I've gotten or I probably would have just dropped this story   
all together.  
  
I wrote this after reading several slightly disturbing pieces of literature on serial killers,   
and assassins. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see the influence these books had on my   
writing, because all of a sudden this story gets a little heavier or cornier (whatever your   
take)  
  
Also for those of you who are unfamiliar with Japanese, "Oneesan" used later on in this   
chapter means sister.  
  
Don't forget to review and tell me what you think.   
  
Chapter 6  
  
The blood swirled around, her pooling into a lake of dark red, as she knelt on the dirt   
floor of the hut. It was seeping into her clothes, and staining the pale, whiteness of her   
skin. She covered her eyes in fear. She tried not look, not to see, but she couldn't help   
her wandering gaze. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a hand, lolling, muscles   
relaxed. She traced it up the broken body of a dead boy.   
  
It looked like Shingo. Yet, it couldn't be Shingo. Usagi had left him safely at home, with   
her parents. His expression was one of shock, his unseeing eyes staring upwards, as if he   
hadn't really expected to die. The gash in his throat was still gushing blood; she reached   
out to stanch it, as if she could still save him. Sobbing, uncontrollably, she continued   
with the futile effort, but the blood just kept coming. Oh God, the blood. There was so   
much of it. In her panic she cried out.   
  
She looked around for someone to help her, anyone, but the hut was empty. The only   
evidence of anyone ever being there was a bloody trail leading out the door. She was   
alone in this blood filled room with an already dead young boy.   
  
"This is his fault," a strangely familiar voice whispered to her.  
  
"Whose fault?" She sobbed out incoherently.   
  
"Endymion's."  
  
"No." He wouldn't. "This isn't real anyway." She lashed out.   
  
"That's what you think."  
  
She woke up panting from the dark dream. The woods were draped in an all-consuming   
darkness and beside her Endymion lay still sleeping, his breathing soft and regular. Her   
eyes narrowed in on him, the large comforting frame, belonging to a man of strength. It   
wasn't real, she told herself. She knew Endymion well enough to know he would never   
do anything like that. No, despite the realistic quality to her dream it was completely   
false. It had been a figment of her imagination.  
  
Her dreams were darker, more intense and she was starting to fear where they were   
leading her. Endymion's presence had mysteriously disappeared from her dreams ever   
since he had shown her how to open up the lock. She was completely alone in this battle,   
against the phantoms residing in her mind.   
  
Endymion stirred, throwing one heavy arm on top of her. He pulled her closer, so she   
was crushed against his chest. Suspicious Usagi studied his face, but his eyelids hadn't   
fluttered, and it seemed the motion had been unconscious. A bitter thought escaped her.   
He was probably used to sleeping with a woman. She bit her lip, tasting salty tears.   
  
Soon though, they would reach the Keeper, and they would sort out this entire mess.   
Endymion would find Serenity and Usagi would go home. But of course, even that   
wasn't simple anymore. Usagi wasn't sure she wanted to find Serenity, or go home for   
that matter. She sighed. When had things gotten so complicated?  
  
Frustrated, Usagi tried to dislodge herself from his embrace, without waking him up. She   
gently peeled back each finger from around her waist and tried to hoist the heavy arm off   
her body. The motions only seemed to rouse him into wakefulness. One minute he was   
dead asleep and he was regarding her with sleep-misted eyes.   
  
"Where are you going?" His deep voice was husky. She shrugged. She didn't really   
have a specific place in mind; she just wanted to get away from him. How easy it would   
be to throw herself in his arms, seeking oblivion. But where would that lead her? She   
knew the answer to that question. It would lead her to sin and Endymion to adultery.   
  
"Ask him how he lost Serenity," the voice whispered to her. She must have jerked at   
unexpected disturbance, because Endymion was looking at her with a baffled expression   
on his face. She dropped her face into her hands, cradling her head.   
  
"Are you all right?" Endymion asked her.   
  
She was hearing voices while she was awake now too. Now she was the crazy one.   
  
"Yes, I'm fine." She wondered if her voice sounded a little strained.  
  
"Ask him." The voice hissed at her.   
  
"No." She hadn't realized she spoken out loud, until she saw Endymion raise his   
eyebrows.   
  
"Are you sure, you're O.K.? He propped himself up on an elbow to assess her.   
  
"I'm sure. I just need...." What she really needed was a good dose of an anti-psychotic   
drug. "...I just need to use the bathroom."   
  
He nodded and lay back down. Relieved, Usagi moved away from him and into the   
woods, away from his unsettling presence. Panting, Usagi leaned up against a tree. What   
was happening to her? Her fingers bit into the bark as she waited for the voice to come   
again, but all she heard was silence. After several minutes she was ready to laugh at   
herself. She was foolish. She was definitely overreacting. She ran trembling fingers   
through her tangled blond hair.   
  
Deep breathes Usagi, she told herself. You haven't lost it yet. Gradually, she began to   
calm down. But that was unfortunately when the vision hit her.   
  
She was back again, holding the bleeding, dead boy, clutching him to her heart. Except   
this time he wasn't quite dead. She gazed, adoringly into those chocolate brown eyes,   
praying softly that his soul wouldn't choose to leave him just yet. He was so young,   
around her brother's age of thirteen. His skin was still smooth, unmarred by time's angry   
caresses. It was really unnerving how closely he resembled Shingo. Usagi couldn't get   
over this strange twist of fate.   
  
His chest was rising and falling just barely. Each intake of air was a struggle. His   
eyelids flickered shut, once and than twice. He was giving up.  
  
"Please." Usagi begged him. He smiled then, just a quick lifting of the corners of his   
mouth. The fingers of his hand closed around her own.   
  
"Oneesan." He whispered softly, slurring the word in his pain.   
  
The Usagi holding him didn't blanche. But it was like she was watching herself from a   
distance. The other Usagi, the distant one was shocked and confused. That Usagi would   
have reacted visibly. The Usagi holding him though, clutched him tighter, tears dripping   
from her eyes.   
  
"What happened? Who did this to you." She muttered, bitterly.   
  
"...Doesn't...matter..." The boy was having a hard time getting the words out. His face   
was drawn, and pale from the loss of blood.   
  
"How can you say that? Of course it matters." Usagi was indignant.   
  
"...the...truth...hurts..." The boy gasped and than choked. His eyes rolled up into the   
back of his head as he fainted. And a few seconds later the boy's breathing stopped   
altogether. Usagi looked up then, saw the bloody footprints leading to the doorway where   
a man stood.   
  
Dark hair brushed the collar of his jacket. Even from across the room she could discern   
the piercing blue color of his eyes. His sword was still drawn, dripping blood. He hadn't   
bothered to wipe it off. It could only be one person.   
  
"I couldn't save him." He said mournfully. His large frame shook.   
  
"You couldn't save him?" Usagi shouted angrily. "Endymion, you've killed him!" Her   
arms cradling the boy began to tremble.  
  
"So I have." The sword clattered to the ground. He was staring at his hands in disgust.   
Their eyes met for a brief instant and then Usagi was jolted back into reality.   
  
She was still gripping the tree like it was her last anchor to sanity. The bark was digging  
into her fair skin and scratching it. She sighed heavily as her brain attempted to process   
all that she had seen.   
  
Could she even trust these visions that she was having? Were they simply figments of her   
imagination or her own insanity? Or could these visions actually have happened at some   
point in time? She didn't know. And the uncertainty was killing her.  
  
She took a couple more minutes to gather herself together before she returned to   
Endymion. She figured he'd probably start to get suspicious if she stayed away from him  
or too long. Sure enough, by the time she returned he was wide-awake and pacing   
impatiently, in a diagonal pattern across the clearing.  
  
"What took you so long?" He asked clearly agitated, unconsciously running a hand through his sleep tousled hair.   
  
Usagi sighed and tried to think of a plausible excuse that did not include visions or   
unseen voices in her head. She finally just countered with another question.  
  
"Why, was I gone for that long?"   
  
"Long enough to make me worry." He seemed to be waiting for an explanation; an   
explanation Usagi was unwilling to give him.  
  
Usagi decided it was best to feed him a bit of the truth. "I've been having disturbing   
dreams, I was just recovering."   
  
Endymion jerked, looking visibly ruffled. He grabbed her arms, clenching them tightly   
in his urgency. "How long have you been having these dreams?"   
  
Usagi's eyes widened, she bit her lip. His hands were bruising her arms. "You're hurting   
me."   
  
He loosened his grip, but the urgency was still there. "How long?" he demanded.   
  
"I don't know. Maybe a couple of days." Usagi didn't understand why he was getting so   
agitated.   
  
He released her abruptly, Usagi staggered off balance for a few seconds. He looked   
positively anguished; there was a feverish look in his blue eyes.   
  
"I just knew this would happen," he said.   
  
*** 


	7. Chapter 7

I have finished! Quite a feat if I do say so myself. I dropped this story for a long while   
before I got motivated to write the next chapter. I've been fiddling around with another   
story I wrote a while back, but I'm not sure I want to share it yet as I really have no idea   
where I'm going with it. Hmm... but then that's nothing new to me, since I am a sort of a   
haphazard writer.   
  
A review alerted me to the fact that I keep switching Shingo's name around and accidentally   
calling him Sammy. I apologize if this has created confusion for any of you. I need to get   
around to fixing that, but I seem to have lost a lot of the back up files to some of the older   
chapters when I switched from my old computer to my new one.   
  
Well, as always I really appreciate your reviews. I depend on reviews for motivation and I   
only need a few more until I reach 100!   
  
Chapter 7  
  
Still reeling from his reaction, Usagi realized that she had some questions of her own.   
  
"Did you kill my brother?" The softly spoken words seemed to hit him like a knife. In   
that moment Usagi's carefully constructed lines between reality and fiction blurred. It   
ceased to matter that she was not Serenity, that the boy she could clearly remember dying in   
her arms could have been an apparition. Her entire being became centered on one thing,   
Endymion. Her gaze narrowed in on him and the outside world faded away to   
insignificance as she watched him struggle with her accusation.   
  
She did not completely trust him. Usagi's sharp intake of air marked her insight. She   
might be infatuated with him and she might even possibly love him, but she didn't know   
him. She didn't know his favorite food was, where he had grown up, or even the names of   
his parents. She didn't know what type of relationship he'd had with Serenity. Usagi had   
always believed that love was something built over time, carefully nurtured, based on trust   
and understanding. How could she love Endymion if she didn't understand him? How   
could she love him if she didn't trust him? Was the anxious fluttering in her stomach she   
felt every time she saw him something that would fade over time? She didn't know.   
  
Her eyes blurred for a second and she bit her lip. Endymion glanced up sharply. "It was   
my fault." He sounded choked, and sorrowful.   
  
Usagi's world crumbled. She looked at him dully. How could she have completely   
misjudged him? Had his beautiful form blinded her to his faults? She felt crushed. She   
turned away from him, only to find that he had grabbed her arm. She inclined her head and   
waited for him to continue. There was an explanation due in this.   
  
"I saw him do it, but I couldn't stop him." He was looking at her intently trying to gauge   
her reaction.   
  
"Saw who, do what?" Usagi was getting impatient. He was taking forever to spit it out.   
  
"Diamond! Don't you understand? That's why you've been having these dreams. He   
works like that. He gets that creepy friend of his to burrow in your mind and spread lies."   
  
Usagi frowned thoughtfully. "So you're saying that Diamond killed my brother and is   
making me relieve it my mind? But wait..." Usagi was abruptly struck with a discerning   
thought. "How could I relieve something I've never lived in the first place? That was   
Serenity's brother, not mine and it was she who held him when he took his last breaths."   
  
"Because you ARE Serenity!" Endymion's arms closed protectively around her.   
  
"We can't keep re-hashing the same argument over and over again. It's getting tedious,   
Endymion. We've been through this before. I had a different life before I was here, unless   
the last eighteen years of my life have suddenly become void in your eyes. " She crossed   
her arms, protectively and gave him a wary look.   
  
Endymion's fingers unconsciously caressed the hilt of his sword and for a second Usagi   
felt a stab of fear burst through her as she had a flashback to her vision. She saw him   
again, the sword dripping blood and the lifeless body of the dead boy not far away.   
  
He must have seen something in her eyes, because he stiffened and drew his hand away   
from the sword. She doubted him and it was driving a wall in between them.   
  
"You don't believe me." He said flatly. Usagi wasn't sure what to tell him. She tightened   
her arms around herself and stared at the ground, unable to meet his eyes.   
  
"I just don't know. I'm all mixed-up right now." She glanced up surreptitiously, seeing   
his jaw tighten. Icy silence fell and without another word he turned and walked away.   
  
Distraught, Usagi bit back tears. He didn't understand what it was like to be suddenly   
thrown in a different world, only having to rely on the knowledge of only one person. She   
felt strangely torn as if the two worlds were pulling her apart piece by piece.   
  
Could she really be Serenity? She had adamantly denied it for so long, but even she was   
beginning to wonder. Everyone here seemed to think that's who she was. Was it possible?   
There was also the very prominent question of Endymion. He had protected her, insisted   
that he was married to her, and lead her away on wild chase to find answers. She   
desperately needed to find the answers to the questions that were wrecking havoc on her.   
  
She sank down to the ground and waited for the storm to blow over. She'd deal with the   
hurricane later.   
  
***  
  
Usagi would have done anything for a car at the moment. Or any other mode of   
transportation, a plane, train, bus anything rather than the miserable animal she was on now.   
She was practically covered in horsehair, her legs ached like mad, and she was clutching on   
tightly to a man who hated her guts.   
  
For a while after Endymion had stormed off, Usagi had wondered if he would return. But   
he had returned, eventually. She'd been chewing on her nails, standing by the horse when   
he finally returned. She'd figured he probably wouldn't leave without the horse, even   
it being the annoying creature that it was.   
  
He was talking to her, but it his sentences were short and clipped leaving her no doubts as to   
the state of his mind. He was angry with her. He had expected her trust, her complete trust,   
and when he had learned that he didn't have it he was hurt. She felt guilty for it. She   
supposed she could have lied to him, but Usagi had never been gifted at manipulation. She   
was honest to a fault, although she suspected that it would be her downfall.   
  
She sighed, shifted her legs on the horse and started to fall off. She grabbed a handful of   
Endymion's shirt in an effort to steady herself. For a second, she leaned dangerously to the   
side, before she managed to right herself. Even with the ruckus, Endymion didn't turn to   
figure out what in the world she was doing. She thought she saw the corner of his mouth   
twitch though.   
  
When would they get to the Keeper? Usagi was getting anxious and impatient, especially   
with the way Endymion was treating her. Not that she could blame him.   
  
With the conversation level at a dead stop, she was bored out of her mind. The most   
exciting part of her day had been the times when she almost fell off the horse. She   
considered playing patty cake on Endymion's back, but quickly ruled that out, as it would   
probably further annoy him. She really didn't want to test his patience at the moment.   
  
She decided to mediate. Clearing her mind of all her troubles sounded particularly   
appealing to Usagi. She concentrated, tried to block out the soreness of her limbs, the   
movement of the horse under her. For a moment there was nothing, and then there was   
another presence. She wasn't alone in her mind.   
  
Usagi jerked hard and mumbled something incomprehensible out loud in her surprise and   
fear. The presence was angry and hurt, a tangled mix of emotions that wasn't hers. They   
weren't her emotions. Usagi was so frightened that she quickly blocked herself off to the   
channel. It was as if she slammed shut the door she had just opened. She wasn't quite sure   
how she did, but all of a sudden the flow of emotions stopped and it was only her thoughts   
she heard. She breathed hard, feeling skittish.   
  
She knew who it was. The thought hit her like a brick. The emotions were too familiar to   
simply be a coincidence. It all led back to the one man that her fate seemed to be   
intertwined with.   
  
"Stay away from my mind, Endymion," she warned him, angry that he seemed to have so   
much control over her. What gave him the right?   
  
His expression was hooded when he turned to her. "It's not something I can control." He   
gave her a pointed look. "You do that."   
  
Stunned Usagi just gaped at him. Her mouth opened and then shut before she finally   
regained her ability to speak.   
  
"What... what is it?" She asked in a hushed whisper. "How is it possible?"   
  
"It's a connection, a bond. I had it with Serenity."   
  
Usagi was still having trouble with speech. "Oh dear Lord," was all she managed to choke   
out before she fainted dead away. 


	8. Chapter 8

Well, I'm sure everyone's been wondering this, but yes harassing me does produce results. I felt guilty that I kept getting all these reviews from all you nice people asking me for another chapter. Thus I sat down and finished chapter eight, which had been abandoned on my hard drive for months. Enjoy.

Trapped- Chapter 8

Everything darkened for a minute in Usagi's world. One minute she was sitting up on the darn horse arguing with Endymion and in the next she was laying on her back staring straight up at the blue canopy of sky filtering through the sun darkened leaves and branches. Her legs hurt from the unaccustomed horseback riding, she probably had a bruise the size of a soccer ball developing on her left side, and worst of all she had realized that the man cautiously peering down at her prone figure could read her mind.

She didn't think she was ready for that much intimacy in a relationship. It was bad enough that her face was usually an open book. But now this man had just openly admitted that he was able to catch every fleeting thought crawling through her head. It scared her so much that her eyes flew open, letting him know that she was awake.

Unless...he already knew she was awake. After all being a mind reader, he was probably privy to this entire inner monologue racing through her head. Destiny was a strange and twisted creature. How could she be bonded with this man in so many ways when he was mated with another woman? Indeed the situation was becoming far too coincidental.

She sat up slowly rubbing her head, wondering what the appropriate thing was to say to man you'd just learned could share your thoughts. There should be some sort of guidebook for this right next to the "witty comments and sayings to make when you are falling in love with a man you don't trust and quite possibly may have killed your fictional brother" book.

A pair of boots abruptly impaired her vision. A calloused hand lowered, and her name spoken softly. "Serenity."

Wait, so it wasn't her name, but Usagi was starting to respond to it anyway. Slowly she was claiming Serenity's life, including her husband and her name. If she didn't leave soon, one day she'd wake up and loose herself. She'd forget all about Usagi, the city of Tokyo, her family, and her friends. There would only be Serenity. The Serenity with the tragically dead brother, the Serenity who was wife to a loving and devoted husband, and the Serenity of Diamond's psychotic obsession.

Maybe being Serenity wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

A hand brushed her cheek. Then was lowered, running over her body. Scandalized at this unprovoked intimacy, Usagi pushed his hands away.

"What are you doing?" She chocked out even though she knew perfectly well what he was doing...feeling her up.

"Checking you for injuries." She dedicated a particularly wicked gleam in the rich blueness of his eyes.

Her mouth opened and closed, silently.

"Well it doesn't seem like anything's broken." He offered her a hand to help her get up. Usagi felt like slapping him, but instead she calmly took the proffered hand and was hauled to her feet. She stumbled clumsily, as her protesting limbs treacherously began to give out beneath her. Endymion wrapped a heavy arm around her waist, keeping her steady. He ruffled her tangled mass of blond hair affectionately.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked almost gently.

Usagi jumped, unused to such direct confrontation. "Talk about what?" She demanded, hoping that he wasn't bringing up the obvious.

"I mean you seemed distressed." He was the epitome of gentlemanly concern now.

He was kindly labeling Usagi's fainting as "distressed." Usagi was starting to feel acutely embarrassed by the entire incident, since she was not usually a hapless, fainting female.

"You know that's the first time I've ever fainted in my entire life." She gave him a pointed look wanting him to know that she was not some weak and spineless milksop. "I mean it's not everyday you learn something like that." She gave a small, pathetic sounding laugh.

"I suppose it might have come as a shock to you, since the memory loss." Usagi had long since recovered the full strength of her legs, but Endymion didn't seem inclined to remove his arm. Instead it tightened around her waist drawing her even closer. With his other hand he was stroking her shoulder. The touch was doing funny things to her stomach.

Usagi grimaced though at his words. He was still in denial. She decided to let it go. Until they reached their destination, it was useless to argue with him. The answer would come soon enough. While it might wound his male ego that he had been wrong, she was sure once the real Serenity was found he would recover his spirits.

She wanted to know the details on how this connection between their minds worked, but she was almost too afraid to ask the questions. What if her worst fears were true? She decided to forge ahead anyway. She had to know.

"You can't read my mind... can you?" She hesitated her head jerking up so she could meet his eyes.

He was patience itself. "It doesn't exactly work like that," he amended. "It's more like, when you have very strong emotions, sometimes I can pick up on them. I get a glance into what you're feeling. And when we're near, sometimes if you let your guard down I can catch stray thoughts."

She felt a bit more relieved. She could feel some of the tension draining away from her body. She could deal with that, she thought. Truthfully it wasn't as if she really had a choice anyway. She couldn't demand that he sever a connection that was an act of nature. She had always been one to believe that things happened for a purpose, a divine plan of which mere mortals were oblivious.

"Well," she said. "I guess that's okay then." Endymion's hand moved up to stroke her hair.

She was suddenly struck with the thought that in this condition she must be positively dreadful looking. The hair he was touching was usually a pale, golden blond, but unwashed it hung in lackluster tangled clumps. Taking at look at the ends of it, she realized it was so dirty that the color had darkened to a brown blond. Subtly, she tried to move her head away. Taking a look at her expression he laughed.

"You need to wash your hair." Endymion's hand dropped down as he made the statement.

"Thank you captain obvious. Maybe you wouldn't be noticing so much if you weren't touching it. Stop that you're probably making it dirtier," Usagi mumbled as Endymion stuck his hand in her hair again just to spite her. She ducked out of the way, breaking free of his grasp.

Released, she gave him a glare devoid of any real fury. Seconds later she broke out into a grin.

"You're not winning any prizes for hygiene either." She announced with relish.

Endymion looked unconcerned, though he ran a quick hand through his dark hair as if checking inventory. His raven black hair and dark clothing actually looked little worse for the wear. Which was downright annoying. Usagi comforted herself by speculating that the dark colors were probably hiding filth.

Something Usagi couldn't identify glimmer in his eyes. Mirth, chased with happiness, drowned in something else. Suddenly she had a strong sense of peace with the world, she innately recognized the feeling as not her own. It was Endymion's then. What was he thinking in that fascinating mind of his?

She lowered her barrier unconsciously and Endymion's soul rushed into hers. For a moment she couldn't tell where his body began and hers ended. Which thoughts were hers? The whirlwind of emotions that slammed through her small body befuddled and confused her. As she delicately reconstructed her barrier, she with left with one certainty.

Endymion loved Serenity.

He would die for her. He would follow her to ends of the universe. He would sacrifice his own happiness for hers.

Submerged in the limitless depths and purity of his love, Usagi was stricken with grief. She mentally shook herself but she still felt as if she had been stabbed.

He would never love another like that. Never.


End file.
